US concerned by Bulgarian president’s remarks about Crimea

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — A day after Bulgarian President Rumen Radev secured his second term with a landslide victory in a runoff election, he drew criticism from the country’s main NATO partner on Monday for his remarks about the status of the Crimean Peninsula. In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria voiced “deep concern” over Radev’s recent comments in which he referred to Crimea as Russian. The peninsula was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, and NATO and the European Union both consider it still to be part of Ukraine. Radev’s remarks had already prompted protests from the Ukrainian government.